Well today is a special day!! I received the first Donation to the site!!! So I want to Send a warm THANK YOU to Michael Tramploe from Logan, Ohio, Michael has sent in a $5.00 Donation, and I am very grateful for his generosity! And as I thought about it, I felt anyone that is willing to donate their hard earned money should be recognized for it. So from this day forward, anyone that donates to MavericsAdventures, will have their name, city and state and the amount they donated listed on the site. I feel this is a great way for me to express my gratitude to those that help make this blog possible.
So thanks again Michael!
Thursday, March 31, 2005
One Small Step for Man, One Crushing Blow of the Financial Kind
Well today I got a few things done. First, I went to Fox Valley Tech and "Applied" to the school, as well as got "Registered" for the truck driving course and "Enrolled" in the truck driving course. I also got my financial aid straighten out and applied for, as I received the email with my magic pin number this morning. I guess I got lucky and there was a person there who knew how to use a computer. YEA!
Well, those were the small steps, however it has had a crushing blow on my finances. $30 for the application fee, and the $516.40 for the course. Ouch! But the pain didn't end there, my roommate, Heather, informed me after I got down with all that, that she is not going to be able to pay ANY part of her half of the rent this month. (Although she did get a job today, so that is good news, granted it doesn't help the here and now) This is just GREAT! So now I get to foot the $650 rent bill on my own, and my car payment another $630. This is turning into a surrealistic nightmare!! And my budget is not holding up to this abuse very well. So, I am going to have start crunching some numbers and see just how royally screwed I am. What I wouldn't give to be 17 again! No responsibilities, no debts, and all the money I make goes into my pocket.
Ahh, those were the days........
In other news, Terri Schiavo finally died. Thank god, let the poor woman rest in peace! It was bad enough for her to be severely brain damaged, but all the legal battles that her family was fighting to prolong her suffering was just ridiculous. Where is Dr.Kevorkian when you need him. I assure you this, if I am ever in that situation, PULL THE PLUG!!! And if that don't work , help me on my way!
On the blog site side of things, it looks like the email-to-post feature is hit or miss and very un-reliable. I did find where I wrote down the time of that email yesterday and it took 12 hrs to process. However, additional test emails have come back with a failed error message. So I will forward those to support so they can take a look to try and improve the system.
Are you all ready for the dreaded TAX SEASON! Mine will be very simple this year as, well, I only had one official job that I received a 1099 on. LOL, I will have to look for ALLOT of deductions if I want to see any money. They keep raising the base deduction amount each year, making it nearly impossible to use itemized deductions. This year is something like $4500! Crazy I tell you, Crazy. I am not sure why I bother to keep receipts, at this rate the base deduction will $10,000 in the next 10 years. Ohhh well, such is life I suppose.
The only things you can count on in life, is DEATH and TAXES!
Well, those were the small steps, however it has had a crushing blow on my finances. $30 for the application fee, and the $516.40 for the course. Ouch! But the pain didn't end there, my roommate, Heather, informed me after I got down with all that, that she is not going to be able to pay ANY part of her half of the rent this month. (Although she did get a job today, so that is good news, granted it doesn't help the here and now) This is just GREAT! So now I get to foot the $650 rent bill on my own, and my car payment another $630. This is turning into a surrealistic nightmare!! And my budget is not holding up to this abuse very well. So, I am going to have start crunching some numbers and see just how royally screwed I am. What I wouldn't give to be 17 again! No responsibilities, no debts, and all the money I make goes into my pocket.
Ahh, those were the days........
In other news, Terri Schiavo finally died. Thank god, let the poor woman rest in peace! It was bad enough for her to be severely brain damaged, but all the legal battles that her family was fighting to prolong her suffering was just ridiculous. Where is Dr.Kevorkian when you need him. I assure you this, if I am ever in that situation, PULL THE PLUG!!! And if that don't work , help me on my way!
On the blog site side of things, it looks like the email-to-post feature is hit or miss and very un-reliable. I did find where I wrote down the time of that email yesterday and it took 12 hrs to process. However, additional test emails have come back with a failed error message. So I will forward those to support so they can take a look to try and improve the system.
Are you all ready for the dreaded TAX SEASON! Mine will be very simple this year as, well, I only had one official job that I received a 1099 on. LOL, I will have to look for ALLOT of deductions if I want to see any money. They keep raising the base deduction amount each year, making it nearly impossible to use itemized deductions. This year is something like $4500! Crazy I tell you, Crazy. I am not sure why I bother to keep receipts, at this rate the base deduction will $10,000 in the next 10 years. Ohhh well, such is life I suppose.
The only things you can count on in life, is DEATH and TAXES!
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Entertaining, Yes?
Well for the regulars that visit, I have added some fun pictures from my Dispair.com screen saver. Hope you enjoy them. I will add and change and replace the images as I get new ones.
I did get an email post to work again but I can't find where I wrote down the time I sent it, so I had to send another, but this time I put the send time in the post so I don't forget. LOL
I did get an email post to work again but I can't find where I wrote down the time I sent it, so I had to send another, but this time I put the send time in the post so I don't forget. LOL
Another Exercise in Stupidity
Well as I stated earlier, I called Fox Valley Tech to inquire about different financing options for their Semi Truck program. OMG! Can they make things any more difficult! What a totally ridiculous system. I was informed that I could apply for financial aid (Government loan) to help cover things till my GI Bill paid me. Sounds good, so what do I need to do I ask? Simple, ASAP apply to college, pay the $30 application fee, and sign up for financial aid. And all this can be done ONLINE. GREAT!! Yup, great, IF it actually worked that way.
Now I don't know who designed their half baked website, but they need real world instruction on COMMON SENSE! Now having never applied to Fox Valley Tech before I used their help system to guide me through the application process. Sounds simple right? WRONG! It would have been but it was developed by someone who would never have to use the system. Now if I gave you a link that says "Register and Enroll for 2005 classes" you would think that this would be the right place to start, wouldn't you? I mean it walks you through setting up a new student ID, selection of your classes, the whole bit. But........... wrong again. This whole process apparently does not register you as a new student. Apparently there is an entirely different process to "Register". But now that I have "Enrolled" and have a new student ID number, now I can no longer "Register" online. Who came up with this crap? Where is my "Stupid Stick"? I need to beat someone! So now I have to go to the school just to "Register".
Ohhh yes, let me not forget to mention the Financial Aid Fiasco! You have to sign up and get this federal pin number before you can apply for financial aid. No problem, I already have one. I applied for that a long time ago when I was looking at some classes in Cali. All I needed to do was to change my address and I should be good to go, right? WRONG! Once you change your address you have to wait 3-4 DAYS for a email confirmation to get your pin number. Shoot me NOW please! So now I have to wait on this "special" email to get my pin number. How stupid can things possibly get! By the time someone learns how to use a computer and sends my damn pin number so I can apply for financial aid, not to mention it takes them 3-4 weeks to read a piece of paper and say "Yes, you qualify", and I go to the college to "Register" I am sure hell will have frozen over by then.
What is so darn difficult about this process? Why all the hoops and for what purpose?!?
Just another exercise in stupidity.
How about, Student: "I want to go to school here". Admissions Lady: "Ok, fill out this form, give me $30 and tell me what class you want to take". Student: "Here is my $30, I want to take this class". Admissions Lady: "Ok, class starts on May 2nd in room 324 in building 4 at 8:00am. Here is a map of the campus. Any questions?". Student: "Nope, thanks".
See, what is so bloody difficult about that?
Now I don't know who designed their half baked website, but they need real world instruction on COMMON SENSE! Now having never applied to Fox Valley Tech before I used their help system to guide me through the application process. Sounds simple right? WRONG! It would have been but it was developed by someone who would never have to use the system. Now if I gave you a link that says "Register and Enroll for 2005 classes" you would think that this would be the right place to start, wouldn't you? I mean it walks you through setting up a new student ID, selection of your classes, the whole bit. But........... wrong again. This whole process apparently does not register you as a new student. Apparently there is an entirely different process to "Register". But now that I have "Enrolled" and have a new student ID number, now I can no longer "Register" online. Who came up with this crap? Where is my "Stupid Stick"? I need to beat someone! So now I have to go to the school just to "Register".
Ohhh yes, let me not forget to mention the Financial Aid Fiasco! You have to sign up and get this federal pin number before you can apply for financial aid. No problem, I already have one. I applied for that a long time ago when I was looking at some classes in Cali. All I needed to do was to change my address and I should be good to go, right? WRONG! Once you change your address you have to wait 3-4 DAYS for a email confirmation to get your pin number. Shoot me NOW please! So now I have to wait on this "special" email to get my pin number. How stupid can things possibly get! By the time someone learns how to use a computer and sends my damn pin number so I can apply for financial aid, not to mention it takes them 3-4 weeks to read a piece of paper and say "Yes, you qualify", and I go to the college to "Register" I am sure hell will have frozen over by then.
What is so darn difficult about this process? Why all the hoops and for what purpose?!?
Just another exercise in stupidity.
How about, Student: "I want to go to school here". Admissions Lady: "Ok, fill out this form, give me $30 and tell me what class you want to take". Student: "Here is my $30, I want to take this class". Admissions Lady: "Ok, class starts on May 2nd in room 324 in building 4 at 8:00am. Here is a map of the campus. Any questions?". Student: "Nope, thanks".
See, what is so bloody difficult about that?
The Ticking of Time.
Last night I pushed forward with my CDL school/training search and applied at 2 more company sponsored schools. Rohel Transport and Stevens Transport. They both have their good points and their not so good points for me. Rohel Transport is a good company from everything I have read, however they have 1 downside as far as I am concerned. That is that they only run east of I-35 for 95% of their loads. Now that is not tooo bad but I would rather run the full 48 states myself. Stevens Transport, again another very highly recommended company, has 2 downsides. First they primarily run refer units (refrigerated trailers used for food products and such). And again it is not tooo bad but I would rather start out simple and get more complicated later, as the refer units need just as much attention as the tractors do. It just means extra pressure. The second downside is they are a "True" forced dispatch company. This means you can not refuse a load, period. That could be a bad thing, and easily puts a "green" driver in a very vulnerable position, that could find him/herself in a tough situation if they get a bad or pushy dispatch manager.
Now, granted the fact that they come highly recommended usually means problems of these sorts are not as much an issue as they are elsewhere. But that still doesn't mean it don't happen.
I also applied with my "last ditch" company if everything else fails, Swift Transport. Swift has allot of baggage compared to the other 2 companies, and would be considered only as a last resort. Lots of negatives about them out there on the web. However I have to at least consider them as looking over my budget plan is not promising.
I also talked with Crete Carriers today, my dream company to work for. They however do not offer company sponsored training which leaves me at a disadvantage. The only way I can work for them is if I get my CDL through Fox Valley Tech. And that is going to be a real challenge.
The Fox Valley Tech Paradigm
Well here is the deal with Fox Valley Tech that is causing the "challenge". There course is $1800 there abouts. Now I can also use my GI Bill (provided my application gets processed in time) to pay for it. The problem is in the timing of things. You see, school starts on May 2nd and I have to pony up about $750 to cover the first 3 weeks, that is not a problem. After that I have to pay out about $1100 for the remaining 7 weeks. That is a BIG problem!, as I don't get my GI Bill reimbursement till the END of May. This leaves me with a 1 week period in the red. I am going to talk to Fox Valley Tech and see if there is any way that I can postpone the second payment until I get my GI Bill money. However I doubt they will so accommodating.
If I can't get the financing "arrangements" to work out with Fox Valley Tech, my only other possible prayer is to barrow money from someone, or somewhere. I am very uncomfortable borrowing money from ANYONE, although I now that sometimes there is just no options and if it solves the problem it is better to swallow your pride and admit you need help than to keep "falling down the rabbit hole" like I am now.
It also doesn't help when you do work for someone and don't get paid for it. Right now I am owed $200 for a consulting job I did last month. I am not sure I will see that paycheck.
But if anyone out there would like to help you can use the Donations link in the sidebar. However if you want to "loan" me money please make sure that you state that with your mailing address and a telephone number that you can be reached at. But just know, you won't get paid back till I get a paycheck, but you WILL get paid back. Karma is a b!t&h I won't mess with.
Well I saw a post from my email test yesterday here this morning. I sent another one earlier today to see how long it takes from the time I send it till it actually posts to my blog. So far it has been 3 hrs, it will be interesting to see just how long it really takes.
Quick update, Stevens Transport just called and I talked with them, no real new info however I did learn 2 new things. First is that I was wrong about them being a "true" forced dispatch so that makes them a bit better from that stand point, unfortunately I also found out that most of their loads run into or out of the dreaded northeast (ie: New York, Manhattan, etc.) much like Roehl. That was discouraging. But if push comes to shove I think I could deal with it for a year. Might not be so bad, I am sure it would be better than everything I hear about Swift Transport.
Now, granted the fact that they come highly recommended usually means problems of these sorts are not as much an issue as they are elsewhere. But that still doesn't mean it don't happen.
I also applied with my "last ditch" company if everything else fails, Swift Transport. Swift has allot of baggage compared to the other 2 companies, and would be considered only as a last resort. Lots of negatives about them out there on the web. However I have to at least consider them as looking over my budget plan is not promising.
I also talked with Crete Carriers today, my dream company to work for. They however do not offer company sponsored training which leaves me at a disadvantage. The only way I can work for them is if I get my CDL through Fox Valley Tech. And that is going to be a real challenge.
The Fox Valley Tech Paradigm
Well here is the deal with Fox Valley Tech that is causing the "challenge". There course is $1800 there abouts. Now I can also use my GI Bill (provided my application gets processed in time) to pay for it. The problem is in the timing of things. You see, school starts on May 2nd and I have to pony up about $750 to cover the first 3 weeks, that is not a problem. After that I have to pay out about $1100 for the remaining 7 weeks. That is a BIG problem!, as I don't get my GI Bill reimbursement till the END of May. This leaves me with a 1 week period in the red. I am going to talk to Fox Valley Tech and see if there is any way that I can postpone the second payment until I get my GI Bill money. However I doubt they will so accommodating.
If I can't get the financing "arrangements" to work out with Fox Valley Tech, my only other possible prayer is to barrow money from someone, or somewhere. I am very uncomfortable borrowing money from ANYONE, although I now that sometimes there is just no options and if it solves the problem it is better to swallow your pride and admit you need help than to keep "falling down the rabbit hole" like I am now.
It also doesn't help when you do work for someone and don't get paid for it. Right now I am owed $200 for a consulting job I did last month. I am not sure I will see that paycheck.
But if anyone out there would like to help you can use the Donations link in the sidebar. However if you want to "loan" me money please make sure that you state that with your mailing address and a telephone number that you can be reached at. But just know, you won't get paid back till I get a paycheck, but you WILL get paid back. Karma is a b!t&h I won't mess with.
Well I saw a post from my email test yesterday here this morning. I sent another one earlier today to see how long it takes from the time I send it till it actually posts to my blog. So far it has been 3 hrs, it will be interesting to see just how long it really takes.
Quick update, Stevens Transport just called and I talked with them, no real new info however I did learn 2 new things. First is that I was wrong about them being a "true" forced dispatch so that makes them a bit better from that stand point, unfortunately I also found out that most of their loads run into or out of the dreaded northeast (ie: New York, Manhattan, etc.) much like Roehl. That was discouraging. But if push comes to shove I think I could deal with it for a year. Might not be so bad, I am sure it would be better than everything I hear about Swift Transport.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
When it Rains it Pours
Keep checking this post today as I will be editing it. Blogger lost my post earlier today much to my annoyance after I spent and hour writing it. So I will be writing a little at a time, uploading it, adding a little, uploading....... you get the idea.
5:30PM Even trying to write a little and post, write a little and post is just too damn aggravating when I lose the work I just wrote. So I have decided to write this in notepad and will copy and paste it into a new post till the server posts it. I understand that things happen, equipment breaks and needs repair, but would it be too much to ask that they just disable the ability to even post while they fix the problem?
I already sent a nasty-gram email to support about it. But I don't think anyone actually reads their email other than the auto-reply server. Customer service, some folks get it others still don't have a clue.
Earlier today I tried to use this blog's email-to-post feature, one the main reasons I choose this service. Supposedly I am able to add posts to my blog by sending it via email to a special email address. This will allow me to keep my blog updated via cell phone, or email when I don't have internet access as I don't have a laptop. However, if I can't get that feature to work correctly, or if this service can't fix their server issues my blog will have to find a new home. But don't worry I will keep everyone informed!!
Last night I called my wife (well I refer to Stephanie as my wife even though we are not married, not sure if we ever will be either. But I call her my wife because we have been together on and off for 12 years. We were engaged for 3 years and recently decided to call that off due to the problems we are going through. But even with all that I still call her my wife. After all she is far more than a girlfriend, but were no long engaged so she is not my fiancé' anymore, so what do you call it? Wife is just easier and more fitting in my mind.)and told her the news about the Aflac job and my plan to go into truck driving and she was very supportive. (I am sure you will catch her comments from time to time in the comment sections of some of my posts. I am sure they will be good for a laugh.) We also made the arrangements and such for me to fly out to Cali for 2 weeks. I got a good deal on the tickets $232 bucks round trip with only 1 week advance. It will be good to go back to Cali for a visit as I haven't been there in nearly a year and a half. So I am looking forward to the trip.
Well as the Title says "When it Rains, it Pours!" and boy is that ever true.
First all the server problems with Blogger, then with Capitol One my credit card company, the phone company, and technology in general. Allow me to explain.
The whole deal with Blogger I have already told you about so I wasn't rehash that, besides it would just make me go bald from pulling my hair out.
So on about Capitol One. I had 2 credit cards through them, had being the key word until about a month or so ago. They both ended up in collections in part do to my erratic employment and a little scam called credit card insurance. This is an important thing I feel I should you all about, because it is just a scam. When I got my 2 credit cards from Capitol One I purchased the unemployment insurance on both them. considering that the telecom industry was becoming unstable 4 years ago I thought it would be a wise investment should I ever lose my job. The idea is that you pay $5 per month and if you ever become unemployed you activate the insurance and they will make your minimum monthly payment till you get a new job. But that is where what they tell you and what they actually do become 2 different things. You see how it really works is like this. When you call to activate your insurance (and you have to show proof that your unemployed BTW) they add up all the money you have paid in to the insurance (all those $5 a month payments they charged to your CC). Then they divide that amount by 12, ohh yes they didn't tell you did they, they only make payments for 12 months (no matter what). Whatever the about is that is all they pay, regardless of what your minimum payment due each month is. So if you have been paying your insurance for say 3 years you would have $180, ow divide that by 12 you get $15. That is all they are going to pay per month, $15. So if your minimum payment each month is say $25 your just SOL! And of course the credit card company knows this so after each sub-minimum payment received they hit you with a fee, and of course your balance goes up by that $10 the insurance didn't pay plus the fee from the credit card company of $30. And god forget if your over the limit or if the fees push you over the limit, then on top of everything else they hit you with that $35-$60 per month fee!
Bottom Line DON'T Pay For Their Insurance, It Is a SCAM!!
So what else is new....ahh yes, I called Schneider today to check the status of my application that I filled out on the internet last Sunday. Well they didn't have it so I had to reapply, I called back a little while ago, just to find out that because I had a At-Fault, Unavoidable accident back in 2002 I do not meet the minimum pre-requisites for Schneider! Damn, I guess they are not quite the company I thought they were. Maybe it is a good thing that they didn't accept me, I would hate to get the boot cause some moron hit my truck and then have to pay them all that money back for school ($3500). After all the whole determination as to fault is made by a cop with no clue what really happened. Maybe if the jerk in front of me had some brake lights I would have been able to stop in time. Ohhh well, I guess I will just have to either find a new company to go through or sign up for Fox Valley Tech and hope I can work out the payments. Time to do more research, but in the mean time I will apply with Stevens Transport. They offer CDL School, only thing about them is they are a refer hauler (refrigerated trailers usually for the food industry) company. We will just have to see what happens.
5:30PM Even trying to write a little and post, write a little and post is just too damn aggravating when I lose the work I just wrote. So I have decided to write this in notepad and will copy and paste it into a new post till the server posts it. I understand that things happen, equipment breaks and needs repair, but would it be too much to ask that they just disable the ability to even post while they fix the problem?
I already sent a nasty-gram email to support about it. But I don't think anyone actually reads their email other than the auto-reply server. Customer service, some folks get it others still don't have a clue.
Earlier today I tried to use this blog's email-to-post feature, one the main reasons I choose this service. Supposedly I am able to add posts to my blog by sending it via email to a special email address. This will allow me to keep my blog updated via cell phone, or email when I don't have internet access as I don't have a laptop. However, if I can't get that feature to work correctly, or if this service can't fix their server issues my blog will have to find a new home. But don't worry I will keep everyone informed!!
Last night I called my wife (well I refer to Stephanie as my wife even though we are not married, not sure if we ever will be either. But I call her my wife because we have been together on and off for 12 years. We were engaged for 3 years and recently decided to call that off due to the problems we are going through. But even with all that I still call her my wife. After all she is far more than a girlfriend, but were no long engaged so she is not my fiancé' anymore, so what do you call it? Wife is just easier and more fitting in my mind.)and told her the news about the Aflac job and my plan to go into truck driving and she was very supportive. (I am sure you will catch her comments from time to time in the comment sections of some of my posts. I am sure they will be good for a laugh.) We also made the arrangements and such for me to fly out to Cali for 2 weeks. I got a good deal on the tickets $232 bucks round trip with only 1 week advance. It will be good to go back to Cali for a visit as I haven't been there in nearly a year and a half. So I am looking forward to the trip.
Well as the Title says "When it Rains, it Pours!" and boy is that ever true.
First all the server problems with Blogger, then with Capitol One my credit card company, the phone company, and technology in general. Allow me to explain.
The whole deal with Blogger I have already told you about so I wasn't rehash that, besides it would just make me go bald from pulling my hair out.
So on about Capitol One. I had 2 credit cards through them, had being the key word until about a month or so ago. They both ended up in collections in part do to my erratic employment and a little scam called credit card insurance. This is an important thing I feel I should you all about, because it is just a scam. When I got my 2 credit cards from Capitol One I purchased the unemployment insurance on both them. considering that the telecom industry was becoming unstable 4 years ago I thought it would be a wise investment should I ever lose my job. The idea is that you pay $5 per month and if you ever become unemployed you activate the insurance and they will make your minimum monthly payment till you get a new job. But that is where what they tell you and what they actually do become 2 different things. You see how it really works is like this. When you call to activate your insurance (and you have to show proof that your unemployed BTW) they add up all the money you have paid in to the insurance (all those $5 a month payments they charged to your CC). Then they divide that amount by 12, ohh yes they didn't tell you did they, they only make payments for 12 months (no matter what). Whatever the about is that is all they pay, regardless of what your minimum payment due each month is. So if you have been paying your insurance for say 3 years you would have $180, ow divide that by 12 you get $15. That is all they are going to pay per month, $15. So if your minimum payment each month is say $25 your just SOL! And of course the credit card company knows this so after each sub-minimum payment received they hit you with a fee, and of course your balance goes up by that $10 the insurance didn't pay plus the fee from the credit card company of $30. And god forget if your over the limit or if the fees push you over the limit, then on top of everything else they hit you with that $35-$60 per month fee!
Bottom Line DON'T Pay For Their Insurance, It Is a SCAM!!
So what else is new....ahh yes, I called Schneider today to check the status of my application that I filled out on the internet last Sunday. Well they didn't have it so I had to reapply, I called back a little while ago, just to find out that because I had a At-Fault, Unavoidable accident back in 2002 I do not meet the minimum pre-requisites for Schneider! Damn, I guess they are not quite the company I thought they were. Maybe it is a good thing that they didn't accept me, I would hate to get the boot cause some moron hit my truck and then have to pay them all that money back for school ($3500). After all the whole determination as to fault is made by a cop with no clue what really happened. Maybe if the jerk in front of me had some brake lights I would have been able to stop in time. Ohhh well, I guess I will just have to either find a new company to go through or sign up for Fox Valley Tech and hope I can work out the payments. Time to do more research, but in the mean time I will apply with Stevens Transport. They offer CDL School, only thing about them is they are a refer hauler (refrigerated trailers usually for the food industry) company. We will just have to see what happens.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Well the verdict is in!
Well I got done checking out my computer, reduced the overclock some, and cleaned and reapplied the thermal paste on the heatsink. It will take the Artic Silver Ce'ramique at least a day to phase change but the temps are still much higher than they should be running 19C over case temp. Looks like I will need a new cooling solution for my CPU.
beep..beep, ....beep, We interrupt your bloging to bring you a special bulletin!!!
Aflac just called!!!! Well it turns out that upper management axed the position entirely according to my interviewer. Now whether or not that is really the case or not, who knows but I have no reason not to believe him.
So it is full steam ahead for operation Truck Driver! In a way I am relieved. I think my heart was trying to tell me to go this route anyway. So now I need to make some plans. I am going to fly out to CA for a week or so and then return to start my new career.
I also talked to Fox Valley Tech today and got some details on their pricing and payment options, unfortunately according to my budget things will get REALLY tight if I use them as I can't start till May 2. But I have been a bit of a regular over at Class A Drivers forum, lots of good folks over there and very helpful. After considering the many options the overall most recommended company run school is Schneider's trucking school. I talked to them as you will recall over the weekend. They say that they provide 1 to 1 student/instructor training (although I think the reality is going to be 2 to 1 most likely) and that is good. Better than 99% of the others. They also have classes that start every week on Monday, another good thing as that means I should be able to get in and start much sooner than I would with Fox Valley Tech. And from what many people have told me Schneider's school is a very good program. So that is what I am going to do!
Now by going through a company sponsored program I have to sign a 1 year employment contract, not something I am thrilled about, but most people are pleased with the company and their treatment of their drivers. And of course the fact that the school is right here in my backyard is a good thing too.
Now lets just hope Stephanie is as "thrilled" about my new career choice as I am.
beep..beep, ....beep, We interrupt your bloging to bring you a special bulletin!!!
Aflac just called!!!! Well it turns out that upper management axed the position entirely according to my interviewer. Now whether or not that is really the case or not, who knows but I have no reason not to believe him.
So it is full steam ahead for operation Truck Driver! In a way I am relieved. I think my heart was trying to tell me to go this route anyway. So now I need to make some plans. I am going to fly out to CA for a week or so and then return to start my new career.
I also talked to Fox Valley Tech today and got some details on their pricing and payment options, unfortunately according to my budget things will get REALLY tight if I use them as I can't start till May 2. But I have been a bit of a regular over at Class A Drivers forum, lots of good folks over there and very helpful. After considering the many options the overall most recommended company run school is Schneider's trucking school. I talked to them as you will recall over the weekend. They say that they provide 1 to 1 student/instructor training (although I think the reality is going to be 2 to 1 most likely) and that is good. Better than 99% of the others. They also have classes that start every week on Monday, another good thing as that means I should be able to get in and start much sooner than I would with Fox Valley Tech. And from what many people have told me Schneider's school is a very good program. So that is what I am going to do!
Now by going through a company sponsored program I have to sign a 1 year employment contract, not something I am thrilled about, but most people are pleased with the company and their treatment of their drivers. And of course the fact that the school is right here in my backyard is a good thing too.
Now lets just hope Stephanie is as "thrilled" about my new career choice as I am.
Frustration............
Ther is nothing more in this life for frustrating than trying to get something done or contact people and not being able to. I have been talking with Aflac for over a month now, interviewing discussing and negociating the details and terms of the position I applied for. After Aflac flew me from Green Bay, WI to Columbus, GA (well Atlanta really) and even put me up in a nice hotel for the night I assumed I was on the "shot list" of prospective candidates for the job. After my follow call and email to my interview (a.k.a. my new boss should I get the position) I was told that a decision would be made in 3-4 days. That was 9 days ago, so I am not getting the fuzzy feeling about being hired. But sometimes things just take time, So last Friday I sent off an email asking for a quick update; just to make sure I was not sitting on my hands even though they had already choosen someone else for the position, as I once waited a month with no reply only to get the bad news.
Now I know that my interviewer has received my email as I had reciept notiification on it, and you can't even read the email untill you accept it. But did I get ANY reply, nope. Not even a "Hey were still thinking on it" or "Just keep your pants on", so I waited. Today I decided that I would call and talk to my interveiwer and see if I could get an answer. Voicemail!, Uhhg........ But, I left my number and asked for a return call.
Well it has been 5 hrs since I left the voicemail and no calls, no emails, nothing. So that just means it requires a bit more persitance on my part. So I call again, and again no answer just voice mail.
Now I know what your thinking, "Damn dude be patient!" And maybe your right, but as they say "Time waits for no man!" Or women for that matter. I mean really, how long can it take to type a 20 word email saying "Were still working on it"? Well if I don't hear from them today I will give it one more.
Inaddition to this frustration, it seems that Blogger has been having some issues. Have been getting random server error messages all day. And if that wasn't enough, my computer keeps trying to overheat on me today. Not sure why, I just cleaned all the dust bunnies out 3 days ago, so I am thinking that my fan that cools my heatsink/cpu might not be running at the proper speed. Right now it is at 53C and is programed to shutdown at 55C. After this post I will go into the bios and reduce my overclock some to help till I get a better handle on the heat issue.
Now I know that my interviewer has received my email as I had reciept notiification on it, and you can't even read the email untill you accept it. But did I get ANY reply, nope. Not even a "Hey were still thinking on it" or "Just keep your pants on", so I waited. Today I decided that I would call and talk to my interveiwer and see if I could get an answer. Voicemail!, Uhhg........ But, I left my number and asked for a return call.
Well it has been 5 hrs since I left the voicemail and no calls, no emails, nothing. So that just means it requires a bit more persitance on my part. So I call again, and again no answer just voice mail.
Now I know what your thinking, "Damn dude be patient!" And maybe your right, but as they say "Time waits for no man!" Or women for that matter. I mean really, how long can it take to type a 20 word email saying "Were still working on it"? Well if I don't hear from them today I will give it one more.
Inaddition to this frustration, it seems that Blogger has been having some issues. Have been getting random server error messages all day. And if that wasn't enough, my computer keeps trying to overheat on me today. Not sure why, I just cleaned all the dust bunnies out 3 days ago, so I am thinking that my fan that cools my heatsink/cpu might not be running at the proper speed. Right now it is at 53C and is programed to shutdown at 55C. After this post I will go into the bios and reduce my overclock some to help till I get a better handle on the heat issue.
Just Another Day In Paradise
Well it is only 10:00am and lots of things have been going on. I decided to share it now so I don't forget to later.
Well My roommate Heathers daughter came back from her fathers house last night.
Well My roommate Heathers daughter came back from her fathers house last night.
Heather and Robert (her soon to be ex-husband) currently have an arrangement with visitation for their daughter Gretchen who is 3. Gretchen spends half the week with her dad an the other half of the week here with Heather
Gretchen is once again sick, we thought it was just a cold but she got sick all over the carpet in the hallway at 2:00am. Now, I don't know about the rest of you but smell of someone else's throw-up just turns my stomach and makes me start feeling ill and nauseous. Thankfully Heather got up took care of the problem as my stomach was just churning at the thought. Mothers must have super human abilities to deal with these things cause it didn't seem to bother her in the least other than being a bit cranky at having to get up.
I got up this morning and enjoyed my ususal breakfast, a cigarette and a Mt. Dew (drink of the gods) and checked my email. I had a nice surprise! A truck driver who is an Owner Operator (means he owns his own truck and hauls freight for other companies) sent me a nice email in response to one I sent him regarding his website that details the daily life of a real working truck driver. Even has a dash cam setup in his truck that is really cool. He goes by Crocodile, and is a very nice person. I have added a link to his website at http://www.angelandcroc.com/ stop by there and check it out! Lots of good info and interesting stuff there even if your not really that big on trucking. If I go in the trucking industry myself I hope I get the chance to meet him sometime.
For those of you following this blog you will have noticed that I am making progress on site design and layout. I am starting to get a better handle on CSS and how it works. Some friends at OSNN gave me good help on fixing things. OSNN is such a great community of computer folks I. I don't think there is a computer problem that the collective can't address.
Well I have to get busy here and start making some phone calls. Time to find out if Aflac is going to hire me or not! But have no fear I will keep you posted.
Gretchen is once again sick, we thought it was just a cold but she got sick all over the carpet in the hallway at 2:00am. Now, I don't know about the rest of you but smell of someone else's throw-up just turns my stomach and makes me start feeling ill and nauseous. Thankfully Heather got up took care of the problem as my stomach was just churning at the thought. Mothers must have super human abilities to deal with these things cause it didn't seem to bother her in the least other than being a bit cranky at having to get up.
I got up this morning and enjoyed my ususal breakfast, a cigarette and a Mt. Dew (drink of the gods) and checked my email. I had a nice surprise! A truck driver who is an Owner Operator (means he owns his own truck and hauls freight for other companies) sent me a nice email in response to one I sent him regarding his website that details the daily life of a real working truck driver. Even has a dash cam setup in his truck that is really cool. He goes by Crocodile, and is a very nice person. I have added a link to his website at http://www.angelandcroc.com/ stop by there and check it out! Lots of good info and interesting stuff there even if your not really that big on trucking. If I go in the trucking industry myself I hope I get the chance to meet him sometime.
For those of you following this blog you will have noticed that I am making progress on site design and layout. I am starting to get a better handle on CSS and how it works. Some friends at OSNN gave me good help on fixing things. OSNN is such a great community of computer folks I. I don't think there is a computer problem that the collective can't address.
Well I have to get busy here and start making some phone calls. Time to find out if Aflac is going to hire me or not! But have no fear I will keep you posted.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Now where did I leave off............
So where did I leave off..... ahh yes I remember now.
So things have been interesting for the past few months, not only in my personal life but in my professional life as well. About a month ago I got a call form Aflac (yup the one with the duck) to work in their IT dept. Not a glamorous job like I have had previously, this one working 2nd shift our of Columbus GA, but the pay of $40-45K a year starting is not bad at all. They flew me down there for a face to face interview about 2 weeks ago and said last week that they were finishing their interviews with 2 other folks and would let me know by the end of last week.
Well, no offense to Aflac, or any company for that matter, but I have been through this song and dance before a few times, so I was not about to put all my eggs in one basket, and started looking at alternatives. Now for me, time is running short. I recently had to cash out my 401K which is all the money I have left in this world. And of course it didn't help any when Stephanie forgot to open the CC statements and let me know that my unemployment insurance on those 2 cards ran out, and that was 3 month ago. Yea you could say I was a little peeved about it, especially considering they both went to collections!
Now I can't totally blame Steph as it is just as much my responsibility as hers to keep on top of the finances, and I put a little more than her share on her shoulders in this regard, but regardless of blame the result is still the same, credit screwed, and bills are due. With this in mind I decided to do something that I didn't think was in me to do..... Consider changing careers!
So after thinking about it I decided to look into professional truck driving. Not that much of a strech as my dad is a diesel mechanic, has been more years than I have been alive. Now as I haven't heard ANYTHING nor have I gotten any replies to my emails from Aflac, I have a bad feeling that job just isn't going to happen. But, none the less the show must go on, and go on it will with me as a truck driver. Tomorrow I am going to call Aflac and get an answer one way or the other. A part of me really hopes I don't get the job, as the idea of truck driving is really growing on me.
Yesterday I called Schneider and talked to them about their training program, and I also talked to Fox Valley Tech about their CDL course before that. Now Fox Valley Tech has, in my mind, a great CDL program. 10 weeks long, 1 on 1 instruction, all for only $1,800. Not a bad deal considering I can use my GI Bill to pay for it. Problem is though, I can't start with Fox Valley till May 2nd, and that is a problem. Running my budget, (an excel spreadsheet I developed, works awesome, email me if you want a copy) I determined that I would be dangerously close to being out of money by the time I got through CDL school, hired on by a company and received my first paycheck. According to my numbers an estimations, any delay over 1 week would mean that I would be able to make my car payment. Too close for comfort. Hence I talked to Schneider as they have classes that start every Monday! I could even make a trip home to see Stephanie, spend a day or 2 with my folks and still be ok money wise. I will call Fox Valley tomorrow and see about financial aid, but if not that is what I am going to do. Fly home to Cali for a week and then goto Schneider truck driving school.
Sounds like a plan huh? Well lets just see what tomorrow brings.
So things have been interesting for the past few months, not only in my personal life but in my professional life as well. About a month ago I got a call form Aflac (yup the one with the duck) to work in their IT dept. Not a glamorous job like I have had previously, this one working 2nd shift our of Columbus GA, but the pay of $40-45K a year starting is not bad at all. They flew me down there for a face to face interview about 2 weeks ago and said last week that they were finishing their interviews with 2 other folks and would let me know by the end of last week.
Well, no offense to Aflac, or any company for that matter, but I have been through this song and dance before a few times, so I was not about to put all my eggs in one basket, and started looking at alternatives. Now for me, time is running short. I recently had to cash out my 401K which is all the money I have left in this world. And of course it didn't help any when Stephanie forgot to open the CC statements and let me know that my unemployment insurance on those 2 cards ran out, and that was 3 month ago. Yea you could say I was a little peeved about it, especially considering they both went to collections!
Now I can't totally blame Steph as it is just as much my responsibility as hers to keep on top of the finances, and I put a little more than her share on her shoulders in this regard, but regardless of blame the result is still the same, credit screwed, and bills are due. With this in mind I decided to do something that I didn't think was in me to do..... Consider changing careers!
So after thinking about it I decided to look into professional truck driving. Not that much of a strech as my dad is a diesel mechanic, has been more years than I have been alive. Now as I haven't heard ANYTHING nor have I gotten any replies to my emails from Aflac, I have a bad feeling that job just isn't going to happen. But, none the less the show must go on, and go on it will with me as a truck driver. Tomorrow I am going to call Aflac and get an answer one way or the other. A part of me really hopes I don't get the job, as the idea of truck driving is really growing on me.
Yesterday I called Schneider and talked to them about their training program, and I also talked to Fox Valley Tech about their CDL course before that. Now Fox Valley Tech has, in my mind, a great CDL program. 10 weeks long, 1 on 1 instruction, all for only $1,800. Not a bad deal considering I can use my GI Bill to pay for it. Problem is though, I can't start with Fox Valley till May 2nd, and that is a problem. Running my budget, (an excel spreadsheet I developed, works awesome, email me if you want a copy) I determined that I would be dangerously close to being out of money by the time I got through CDL school, hired on by a company and received my first paycheck. According to my numbers an estimations, any delay over 1 week would mean that I would be able to make my car payment. Too close for comfort. Hence I talked to Schneider as they have classes that start every Monday! I could even make a trip home to see Stephanie, spend a day or 2 with my folks and still be ok money wise. I will call Fox Valley tomorrow and see about financial aid, but if not that is what I am going to do. Fly home to Cali for a week and then goto Schneider truck driving school.
Sounds like a plan huh? Well lets just see what tomorrow brings.
Down to the Biz at hand
Well now that I have given up trying to change the format and layout of my new blog and resorted to email support for help on my remaining issue, I thought it would be nice to "set the stage" so to speak and give you my new readers some background on yours truly.
So where to begin............ Interesting dilemma. Ok, it would take way too long to try and give you my whole life story so how about just a snap shot for now and then on to current events and as I talk about things I will make a note to add some background history till you all get up to speed. Sound good? Great.
Ok, me in a nutshell. hummm, this is harder than I thought, but here goes.
I grew up here in Wisconsin and when I was ohhh about 12 I moved to California. Went to High school and met the girl I have been with ever since, Stephanie. After HS I joined the U.S. Army as a combat communications operator/maintainer and served 3 1/2 years before being forced to take a medical discharge for a badly broken leg caused by a hit-and-run accident on Christmas leave. When I got home from the military I worked for a telecom company called Xeta Technologies, great company to work for, but management had no balls. The end result, laidoff after 2 years.
Spent a while unemployed much to Stephanies delight, before being offered a job back here in Green Bay, WI. Little did I know what a bad decision it would be to take the job. I was hired by a company called Infinity Technology, I thought I found a good company, and moved myself (leaving Stephanie in CA) here to GB, got a nice apartment, and was looking to buy a house for Stephanie and myself, life was good. Good that is till after being there only 3 months they laid me off! WTF, well after talking with a co-worker that lived in the same apartment complex as myself I found out they re-hired the guy (call him Mark) I was hired to replace!!! The event got more interesting when I called another local company looking for work and it turns out they just fired "Mark". After talking with the IT manager there it turns out that "Mark" lied on his application to them and kept insisting on being sent for specialized telecom training.
So, Infinity was just trying to get free training for "Mark" all along, and they never had any intention on keeping me around. A week later they fired my co-worker. What a bunch of .........
So for about a year now I have been doing freelance and contract/consulting telecom work trying to keep my head above water while I wait for my lease to run out as I don't want to break the lease. Unfortunately, my freelance and consulting work just wasn't cutting it and I was going broke FAST! So, when my very long time friend Heather told me she was going to get a divorce and needed a place for her and her daughter to stay, I said sure, but you have to help pay rent!
Now, I did talk to my beloved Stephanie about this before I said that Heather could move in, it would have been suicide not too. And even though she said she didn't have any problem with it, I think she lied........ Things between us have not been the same since and I really think that this is the cause. It might also be that we haven't seen each other really for at least a year now, but we are both used to that, while I was in the military I was gone for nearly 4 years, my telecom career took me away for months at a time. Maybe it is the combination of the 2 that has finally taken its toll on our relationship. We are now at the proverbial "fork in the road" as to whether we stay together or not. I hope we can work it out, I can't imagine my life without her being a full part of it. She is literally the Yin to my yang. My exact opposite with just enough in the middle to relate.
Well I have to get something to eat, I will post again today and finish getting you up-to-date.
So where to begin............ Interesting dilemma. Ok, it would take way too long to try and give you my whole life story so how about just a snap shot for now and then on to current events and as I talk about things I will make a note to add some background history till you all get up to speed. Sound good? Great.
Ok, me in a nutshell. hummm, this is harder than I thought, but here goes.
I grew up here in Wisconsin and when I was ohhh about 12 I moved to California. Went to High school and met the girl I have been with ever since, Stephanie. After HS I joined the U.S. Army as a combat communications operator/maintainer and served 3 1/2 years before being forced to take a medical discharge for a badly broken leg caused by a hit-and-run accident on Christmas leave. When I got home from the military I worked for a telecom company called Xeta Technologies, great company to work for, but management had no balls. The end result, laidoff after 2 years.
Spent a while unemployed much to Stephanies delight, before being offered a job back here in Green Bay, WI. Little did I know what a bad decision it would be to take the job. I was hired by a company called Infinity Technology, I thought I found a good company, and moved myself (leaving Stephanie in CA) here to GB, got a nice apartment, and was looking to buy a house for Stephanie and myself, life was good. Good that is till after being there only 3 months they laid me off! WTF, well after talking with a co-worker that lived in the same apartment complex as myself I found out they re-hired the guy (call him Mark) I was hired to replace!!! The event got more interesting when I called another local company looking for work and it turns out they just fired "Mark". After talking with the IT manager there it turns out that "Mark" lied on his application to them and kept insisting on being sent for specialized telecom training.
So, Infinity was just trying to get free training for "Mark" all along, and they never had any intention on keeping me around. A week later they fired my co-worker. What a bunch of .........
So for about a year now I have been doing freelance and contract/consulting telecom work trying to keep my head above water while I wait for my lease to run out as I don't want to break the lease. Unfortunately, my freelance and consulting work just wasn't cutting it and I was going broke FAST! So, when my very long time friend Heather told me she was going to get a divorce and needed a place for her and her daughter to stay, I said sure, but you have to help pay rent!
Now, I did talk to my beloved Stephanie about this before I said that Heather could move in, it would have been suicide not too. And even though she said she didn't have any problem with it, I think she lied........ Things between us have not been the same since and I really think that this is the cause. It might also be that we haven't seen each other really for at least a year now, but we are both used to that, while I was in the military I was gone for nearly 4 years, my telecom career took me away for months at a time. Maybe it is the combination of the 2 that has finally taken its toll on our relationship. We are now at the proverbial "fork in the road" as to whether we stay together or not. I hope we can work it out, I can't imagine my life without her being a full part of it. She is literally the Yin to my yang. My exact opposite with just enough in the middle to relate.
Well I have to get something to eat, I will post again today and finish getting you up-to-date.
Just my luck
Well I am having a heck of a time trying to modify the blog template. They use CSS and I am not that good at working with it. If it was straight HTML we would be in business and I could use Dreamweaver MX 2004 that I have to set it up any way I want. So I am going to be playing with this for a bit. How does that saying go.....That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable?
Well after playing this this darn CSS I got the majority of it figuraed out, not totally but mostly. I still can't get this main posting section wider than it is while leaving the sidebar intact. I will have to email support on how to do that, unless one of my readers happens to know..... if you do shoot me an email!
Well after playing this this darn CSS I got the majority of it figuraed out, not totally but mostly. I still can't get this main posting section wider than it is while leaving the sidebar intact. I will have to email support on how to do that, unless one of my readers happens to know..... if you do shoot me an email!
Hello and Welcome!!!
Well today I decided to start this blog. Kinda exciting really and have wanted to do this for a while, just had to get off my lazy butt and actually do it.
So why did I create this blog in the first place? Good question........... Well I find myself always sharing my experiences with others to help them out with whatever decision they are making at the time so why can't I do that just on a larger scale? After all I have been through allot, done many things in my life and learned alot of good lessons at the same time.
I also thought this would be neat way to expressing myself, my views on life and current events and a way to vent my frustrations to the masses. LOL
This first posting here is a combination of betting started/setup to get my new blog the way I want it to look as well as give you all some background on myself, past to current. I will try to post everyday with what is going on and what I am thinking everyday. So stay tuned!
By the way, you might even see multiple posts per day as things happen. Happy Reading!
So why did I create this blog in the first place? Good question........... Well I find myself always sharing my experiences with others to help them out with whatever decision they are making at the time so why can't I do that just on a larger scale? After all I have been through allot, done many things in my life and learned alot of good lessons at the same time.
I also thought this would be neat way to expressing myself, my views on life and current events and a way to vent my frustrations to the masses. LOL
This first posting here is a combination of betting started/setup to get my new blog the way I want it to look as well as give you all some background on myself, past to current. I will try to post everyday with what is going on and what I am thinking everyday. So stay tuned!
By the way, you might even see multiple posts per day as things happen. Happy Reading!
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